Santa Rosa, CA's own Kings of Powerviolence make their second appearance here on the L-RV, and damn if they aren't overdue…
What can be said about a band that was at the forefront of the genre and kept their benchmark high from the get-go. These guys live the filth they spew - unlike today's "jockviolence" set. Every now & again they still rear their beautifully fucked-up heads, so never, ever, ever count them out.
No soap is gonna wash this off, you'll just have to live with it, kid...
I remember listening to this record for the first time - I was living in my Aunt Gloria's basement in downriver Detroit, circa 1986. I was 17, freshly out of high school in my small Tri-Cities Area town - (Bay City) - and trying to "live the dream" of moving to Detroit to be a "skatepunk". I was bagging groceries during the day & driving my shitty car all over to The Motor City at night looking for skate spots & girls & generally a good time, ya know?
(I didn't mention that my aunt was / is a born-again X-tian who put up w/ my heathen ass, but none the less, she was awesome as fuck & let me do my thing. She also made some serious carnitas & homemade chorizo, so why would I bother to complain)?
Anyways, to make a long story short, I first heard this while listening to a "Brave New Waves" radio broadcast on CJAM out of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. That's also where I heard a ton of stuff ranging from bands like Alien Sex Fiend running the gamut of "alternative" all the way to Black Flag & all points of chaos / art-damage in between.
I haven't listened to this album in a really long time, but every time I hear it, I still feel as though it is a "classic" U.K. punk album. The mix is a bit thin, but the riffs on this thing are epic. Excellent rhythm section & vocal harmonies abound as well. A band that definitely has their own sound. Not much of the rest of their catalog speaks to me, but it ain't bad - it's just that this album (for me anyways) is their pinnacle.
(START OF RANT):
Plan?
What plan?
There never was a plan …
I certainly never thought I'd still be "writing a blog" about bands & records that I don't give a shit if anyone else besides myself fawns over.
My taste has only gotten more extreme (or worse if you ask some people), and my "photoshop skills" haven't broken any new ground - HA! - but I don't care - never have. What's the point?
In the end, I'm still having fun doing this. I have managed to crank out a post a week or so (almost / usually) so while I ain't so hella prolific in that department, I AM STILL FUCKIN' HERE .
I've outlasted quite a few - thought I'd pack it in a few times - but when I look around & see how many blogs I was buddies with over the years who have hung it up (for whatever reason), well then… that just gives me fuel to keep going!
The comments have waned over the years, but you really can't expect much from the internetz, honestly. This is my labor of love (not sure it's love, but it "is what it is"), and if you enjoy the ride that I provide, then let me know once in a while.
Thanks for listening, and hopefully you'll still be hanging in for whatever comes next.
(END OF RANT).
And now on to year six we go...
Squirrel Bait were "The Princes of Louisville, Kentucky" back in the halcyon days of the Mid-Eighties. A band of teenage bros who had chops for days, and wrote - for lack of better term - "post-hardcore" at a level way beyond their years (much like the chops they possessed.
While they only put out two short albums back in the day, those became the soundtrack to my skate-fueled "post-high school slacker life" that I had embarked on. Late nights & sweaty sessions grinding curbs all night on 10" x 30" decks w/ a boombox, a ratty cassette, some cold beers & a bag of dirt-weed. (That's all I needed anyways).
Here's a wonderfully fucking rare live recording of The 'Bait tearing it up in Minneapolis in 1986. Try to keep in mind that these guys were still in high school at the time. Makes you kind of feel like a chump, don't it? While I never cared for any of the other mega-bands that these fellas were involved with in the years to come, Squirrel Bait remains a VERY special band to me, and that won't change.
Guaranteed.
29 strong & still in your face, The Pride of Frederick, Maryland lays waste with its brick-to-the-face manner of unrelenting thrash/grind/violence.
Definitely a band that should have garnered more attention all along - the material on this mysterious CD-R "release" I downloaded many moons ago from the always awesome RAW GRIND CHAOS CORE blog always satisfies, and over the years they have honed their sound into something MUCH more than just well-crafted "tuff-guy" NYHC.
A swell cup of coffee in the A.M. if there ever was one...
